On Monday, Da Nang Party Committee Deputy Secretary Vo Cong Tri presented 20 million VND from the city budget to the municipal Department of Police.  The unit’s police officers had successfully arrested 22-year-old Nguyen Hung Duong from Quang Tri Province for his deceptive practices conducted via the Internet.

Deputy Secretary Tri (3rd left) presenting the reward to representatives from the Department of Police

According to local police officers, Duong had come to Da Nang to attend training courses on cooking and IT.  Since last year, he has been hacking into the Facebook accounts of many users, mainly overseas Vietnamese.

After gaining access to their accounts, Duong first carefully read the conversation history of those Facebook users so that he could impersonate them when talking with their friends in Viet Nam via Facebook Messenger.

In those fraudulent conversations, Duong asked his victims in Viet Nam to buy prepaid mobile phone cards for him to receive large commissions. The offer was 50 USD for a 500,000 VND card. 

As a result, Duong successfully cheated nearly 100 people into buying cards for him, swindling a total of over 2 billion VND from them.  

Deputy Secretary Tri praised the Police Department for their great efforts in arresting this criminal.  He stressed the need for the unit to continue to develop the professional skills of its officers, and to upgrade its equipment in order to gain even more achievements.  He also encouraged the department’s staff to continue their fight against criminals, including those using hi-tech to appropriate assets.